“Little Big City” proclaims the sign on the side of Bratislava’s trams. It’s certainly right about the first, Slovakia’s capital is dinky compared with its neighbours on the Danube – Vienna, the grand old dame of European capitals, ninety minutes to the west by boat, and exuberant Budapest, three hours to the southeast by train.…

Slovakia borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Ukraine. It’s home to a diverse population scattered across mountains, lakes, forests and the Danube basin. Earlier this year, Tatra Photography built three wooden wildlife hides in Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains, providing visitors with the unique opportunity to capture close-up images of wild brown bears in their natural…

Whether you’re on a weekend away or a month-long adventure, being made to feel unwelcome by rude or unpleasant locals can make or break a holiday. So, if you don’t want to be shunned by waitresses and dismissed by taxi drivers, then Pakistan and Russia are apparently not for you. Following an HSBC poll on the…

With a long winter behind you and a post-Christmas paycheck or two in the bank, it’s time for a well-earned break. But where should you go? Exciting new destinations are emerging all the time, and the sheer number of options can be bewildering. Below is a selection of top city breaks for 2013, combining the…